For the next couple of days (after Locks had finished it by sitting outside in the middle of the night) the hat sat hidden in a corner behind Locks' own tricorne (a gift Dadan and the bandits had given her while drunk at Christmas).

oOo

While Ace had expressed curiosity about the orange object he could see behind the tricorne, he didn't dare investigate. The last time someone (Luffy) had touched Locks' stuff, they'd gone without dinner. In fact, Locks was probably the only person who'd ever come between both the brothers and food and succeeded with all their limbs intact.

Keeping Ace away from food was one thing, but Luffy as well? That was on a whole other, terrifying, level. To this day, Ace still didn't know how the treehouse remained intact. He shuddered at the memory.

oOo

Before dawn . . .

Ace snuck out of the treehouse. Luffy didn't stir, which was the important part, and Locks merely yawned at him before settling back to sleep.

It would take Ace a couple of hours to walk slowly to Fuchsia. He was planning on spending the day there, since most people didn't know him and Makino didn't know just how much today's date sucked for him.

Luffy wouldn't mind too much . . . would he? Locks, on the other hand . . . he was dead if Luffy told her that today was his birthday. Ace cringed, and resolved not to think about it.

oOo

Dawn . . .

"Wake up . . . Lo~ocks, wake up!" Luffy whined. The dragon opened an eye, the rainbow colours seeming to swirl around and around . . .

Luffy shook his head. "Where's Ace?" he asked. The dragon slowly rose into a crouch. In a dull flash of light, Locks had changed into her half-form, wings opening themselves to their fullest extent as she stretched. Luffy ducked under them, eyeing Locks' tail warily. The clubbed end thumped on the ground softly and repeatedly, for no discernible reason, before Locks curled the appendage around so that the end sat in her lap.

The girl blinked the sleep from her eyes, and finally, she shrugged in answer to Luffy's question. The boy looked disappointed.

"Aw . . . but I wanted to give him his present . . ." he whined. His companion tilted her head at an angle in silent curiosity. Luffy continued to whine, "It's his birthday today . . . this sucks."

Locks blinked.

"I thought today was New Year's Day?" she said. At least, that's Makino had told her today was when they'd visited yesterday. On the way back, they'd found the bandits wandering around drunk throwing socks at each other. They'd been shouting "And a Happy New Sock to you too!"

Locks had resolved never to drink alcohol.

Luffy was saying something.

" . . . give him his present tonight! He can't stay away forever! Come on, Locks, we're going to decorate the treehouse!"

Next thing Locks knew, she was plummeting towards the ground after Luffy threw her out of the treehouse. Thankfully, being in her half-form, she could use her wings as parachutes. She summoned wind in a great upwards current to slow her fall. Despite it being on her second tier, her wind power was quite strong. Once she landed, she used the wind to blow Luffy away as punishment for throwing her outside as he jumped out of the treehouse.

She started ambling in the direction he'd flown in. After all, if he got eaten by crocodiles, someone had to fetch the body.

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Read somewhere that Ace's birthday was New Year's Day.

Locks got a hat from the bandits in a short scene in Chapter 12 of Locks Christmas, a special for this story.